n through an
archway into the dining-room. Here was a cupboard full of the cunningest
little dishes Twinkle had ever seen. They were all made of clay, baked
hard in the sun, and were of graceful shapes, and nearly as smooth and
perfect as our own dishes.

Chapter VI
Teenty and Weenty

ALL around the sides of the dining-room were pockets, or bins, in the
wall; and these were full of those things the prairie-dogs are most fond
of eating. Clover-seeds filled one bin, and sweet roots another; dried
mulberry leaves--that must have come from a long distance--were in
another bin, and even kernels of yellow field corn were heaped in one
place. The Puff-Pudgys were surely in no danger of starving for some
time to come.

"Teenty! Put back that grain of wheat," commanded the mother, in a
severe voice.

Instead of obeying, Teenty put the wheat in his mouth and ate it as
quickly as possible.

"The little dears are _so_ restless," Mrs. Puff-Pudgy said to Twinkle,
"that it's hard to manage them."

"They don't behave," remarked Chubbins, staring hard at the children.

"No, they have a share of their father's obstinate nature," replied Mrs.
Puff-Pudgy. "Excuse me a minute and I'll cuff them; It'll do them good."

But before their mother could reach them, the children found trouble of
their own. Teenty sprang at Weenty and began to fight, because his
brother had pinched him, and Weenty fought back with all his might and
main. They scratched with their claws and bit with their teeth, and
rolled over and over upon the floor, bumping into the wall and upsetting
the chairs, and snarling and growling all the while like two puppies.

Mrs. Puff-Pudgy sat down and watched them, but did not interfere.

"Won't they hurt themselves?" asked Twinkle, anxiously.

"Perhaps so," said the mother; "but if they do, it will punish them for
being so naughty. I always let them fight it out, because they are so
sore for a day or two afterward that they have to keep quiet, and then I
get a little rest."

Weenty set up a great howling, just then, and Teenty drew away from his
defeated brother and looked at him closely. The fur on both of them was
badly mussed up, and Weenty had a long scratch on his nose, that must
have hurt him, or he wouldn't have howled so. Teenty's left eye was
closed tight, but if it hurt him he bore the pain in silence.

Mrs. Puff-Pudgy now pushed them both into a little room and shut them
up, saying they must stay the